Gas station, Twin Falls County, Idaho: photo by Russell Lee, July 1942 Washington, D.C. At 7 a.m. on July 21st, the day before stricter gas rationing was enforced, cars were pouring into this gas station on upper Wisconsin Avenue: photo by Marjory Collins, July 1942

Washington, D.C. On morning of July 21st, the last day before stricter gas rationing went into effect, cars were parked in front of gas stations long before they opened, waiting to fill their tanks on the quota of their old ration cards. Cars were parked and left without their drivers who returned at eight o'clock when the station on upper Wisconsin Avenue near the District line opened: photo by Marjory Collins, July 1942

This sign appeared at one upper Wisconsin Avenue gas station by 8:30 a.m. on July 21st: photo by Marjory Collins, July 1942

Washington, D.C. Renting bicycles at a gas station on East Potomac Park. Notice the "no gas" sign on the nearest gasoline pump: photo by Marjory Collins, June-July 1942

Photos from Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection, Library of Congress

6 comments:

I couldn't help hearing Modest Mouse's admonishment "you will come down soon too / you will come down too soon" (from "Out of Gas") as I scrolled through these posts. How the mighty (once great? no, not quite) continue to suck it, etc.

that last gas stain... I remember that last gas station... it was still there way into the 70's !

in the 50's we used to bike over to East Patomac Parkf go down around Hains Point

sometimes fish sometimes play miniature golf

when later Bobbie McDonald had his 47 black, shiny , big, Buik

we used to drive down and after getting gas at that station go over and play golf on that East Potomac Prk Golf Course...

once we took girls with us to play miniature golf

and over there on the left of the station that overhang is were we all went to pee in the bathrooms

at night gas stations after the closed never used to put locks on their pump-hoses...

they'd turn off the pumps (with a key) but there was always a bit of gasoline still in the pumps

we would go from pump to pump and from gas station to gas station and put whatever gas was in the hoses into our tanks...

then drive over to the Hot Shoppes and flick our lights to get cute girls on roller skates to come Z"curb service" and take our orders.

the last Hot Shoppe to have curb service was up the street a bit from where I now live... up on New Hampshire Avenue and 410. It s the same Hot Shoppe where they invented that double pat tie/secret sauce Mighty Mo (which McDonald now calls a Big Mack but NO COMPARISON...

that Hot Shoppe as I recall closed down in mid 1980's and on the site is now a UHAUL and a cheap gas gas station .... $3.65 for Regular and $5.25 for ONE ! pack of Pall Malls (pronounced "pell bells")